High capacity silicon anodes enabled by MXene viscous aqueous ink

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Energy Storage

Background:

• Advanced lithium-ion batteries require electrodes with high areal capacity.
• Thick electrodes are desirable for maximizing areal capacity but face electrical and mechanical challenges.
• Current methods struggle to overcome critical thickness limitations in electrode performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop robust electrodes with high areal capacity for lithium-ion batteries.
• To investigate the use of two-dimensional titanium carbide or carbonitride nanosheets (MXenes) as a conductive binder.
• To overcome the electrical and mechanical limitations of thick electrodes.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing MXenes as a conductive binder for silicon electrodes via slurry-casting.
• Producing thick electrodes without additional conductive additives or binders.
• Characterizing the electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of the resulting electrodes.

Main Results:

• MXenes formed a continuous metallic network within thick silicon electrodes (up to 450 µm).
• This network facilitated fast charge transport and provided mechanical reinforcement.
• Achieved very high areal capacity anodes, reaching up to 23.3 mAh cm⁻².

Conclusions:

• MXenes are effective conductive binders for fabricating high-performance, thick silicon electrodes.
• This method overcomes critical thickness limitations, enabling significantly higher areal capacities.
• The MXene-based approach offers a scalable solution for advanced lithium-ion battery anodes.